Fire in Mülheimer Hochhaus: 25 people saved, but the building uninhabitable!

Fire in Mülheimer Hochhaus: 25 people saved, but the building uninhabitable!

on Saturday evening, April 28, 2025, the fire brigade was alerted to a fire in Gelsenkirchen at 8:34 p.m. The place of use was in the street "Im Winkel", where a fire had broken out in the rear extension of a restaurant. The flame sea finally spread to the main building and presented the emergency services with considerable challenges. Since entering the building was too dangerous due to possible instability of the wooden ceilings, the deciding fact that the turntable ladder was used to combat the fire from the outside. This measure was necessary to delete the embers. For the firefighters, the mission lasted around four hours, while even the roof of the house had to be removed. Fortunately, there were no injuries because the restaurant was closed at the time of the fire and there were no people in the building. This information was provided by Radio Emscher Lippe

The dramatic events in Gelsenkirchen are contrasting to another fire that broke out in an apartment building in Mülheim on the Ruhr on the same evening. Here the fire brigade was alerted at 9:14 p.m. as a dense smoke from the entrance area of ​​a five -storey house. Due to the fire smoke, numerous residents could not flee through the stairwell and were forced to make themselves noticeable on the windows. Two people had fled to the roof. Since many residents tried to save themselves independently, the work of the fire brigade was significantly more difficult. In this critical situation, the alarm keyword MANV (mass attack by injured) was triggered, and the human rescue via turntable ladders was initiated immediately.

human rescue in focus

A total of 25 people, including many children, were saved over aerial ladders. 15 people suffered suspected of flue gas intoxication and had to be transported to nearby hospitals. In addition, another ten people who were on the Ruhrbahn bus received support from emergency pastors. The house was classified as uninhabitable, which is why emergency shelters were provided for four people. The fire itself sparked the stairwell, mattresses, furniture and strollers in the stairwell and could quickly be deleted with two C-pipes. A total of around 160 fire brigade, German Red Cross, Johanniter Accident Aid and Malteser Hilfsdienst were deployed until around 11:45 p.m. For the police, which has started the cause of the fire, the stock street remained closed in both directions. This information comes from a report by Feuerwehren.org .

The incidents in Gelsenkirchen and Mülheim an der Ruhr are reminiscent of the continuing challenges that emergency services face in urban fires. In this context, the Center for Fire Statistics of the CFIF (CFS-CTIFIF) regularly publishes reports that provide important data and statistics on fire protection and causes of fire. Report No. 28 will be published in 2023, which includes data from 38 countries and 26 major cities. The focus is on the development of urban fire risks in the 20th century, as well as the associated political, cultural and technical events that have influenced fire protection. The “100 Cities - 100 Years” project analyzes international risk trends and offers valuable insights into the problem of dealing with fire phenomena in urban centers. Further details on these extensive statistics and projects can be found on the website of the CTIF here .